Brave New World III: Winds of Change
by AnJL
Summary: I'm back! And so are all my little friends. Chlex'ed to the max. Please review... *spoilers for Obscura and Tempest, sort of.*
1. It Only Hurts When...

~Not my characters, but my AU, my rules...Usage of 'Obscura' and 'Tempest'. How's this for a thought - wouldn't the motivation for kidnapping Chloe make more sense if she was dating, oh, someone famous?...~  
  
~This one will take things on past the end of the series. And away into my AU. Timeline as stands is in Author notes of Brave New World II. (Ever read the JLA/DC story 'the Nail' - posits a world in which the Kents didn't go by Schuster's field? I consider that Chloe's absence in the -original- arc was the cause of all the problems. We Chlex writers are just putting the world the way it -should- be.)~  
  
  
1. It Only Hurts When...  
  
LANA  
  
Well, that was a strange week, even for Smallville. I had my first 'walk on the weird side' as Chloe calls it. I got to see through a kidnappers eyes. And then I got to see him die.   
  
I still have nightmares about that. Not that you would know. I've learnt to keep a lot of things to myself over the years. Smile and let it all go. The only person I can talk to about this sort of thing is Chloe, and at the moment, she's part of the problem.   
  
She's been seeing Lex for a while now, and I don't think any of us realised how serious it was until that nutcase buried her alive. It was lucky that the police shot him - I think Lex would have been a lot more creative. He came through the doors of the hospital like the wrath of God, refused to leave her bedside. Just sat there, looking at her, with his face closed up.  
  
I hate this hospital. I've been here too many times, visiting Whitney's dad. Then Whitney had to bring me here, after that firestorm. When I had the first 'episode', Whitney and Clark were having a coffee together. That was so, so bad. Seeing them being close, and I feel like such an awful person, because I've agreed to go to the Spring Formal with Whitney. And I want to go with Clark. And he's in love with Chloe.   
  
Standing in the corridor, watching him watching them. He used to look at me like that. And I never noticed, never wanted to admit it to myself, until he didn't do it anymore.   
  
LEX  
  
I've gone beyond anger, beyond fear now. I'm just...cold. Holding a small hand that lies in mine, and willing her to open her eyes. Luthors don't lose. Come back to me.  
  
No-one thought to tell me she was missing. Not for five fucking hours. Mr Hero Kent found her, because he could, and now I want to punch him in his indestructible face as much as I want to thank him. She's mine. Stop looking at her like that, asshole, because you missed your chance.   
  
Had a fight with Jonathan Kent, one step forward, two steps back. He doesn't want me digging in that damn field. But we're dealing with the government now, and I have a loose cannon of my own. Nixon and his nose for a story. Hamilton, set up in a lab that still reports to my father - he's a tough bastard - still trying to run things from his private room in Kane Memorial. And that lunatic crop-duster...the $600 question, and Nixon has it, has evidence, and I can't make -everyone- disappear, not until I find out who knows what. Sneer at the story, trying to throw Nixon off the scent, and I don't know if I succeeded. Kent doesn't understand the need to know. Neither of them do. We need to know -first-, need to have all the pieces, so we can defend ourselves. Clark saw me trash my notes, my research, but I have a very good memory. Too good a memory. I don't forget anything. Not the scent of her skin, not the sound of her breathing when I wake in the night and reach for her.   
  
How did this happen? She's pretty, of course, any idiot can see that. Though one didn't, until it was too late. But she's like me. We need to know the truth, whatever the cost. It binds us as surely as anything. The secret that we share with the Kents. She's tough. Nobody else, except maybe Pamela, ever got away with telling me off. She doesn't let me get away with being the cynical and satanic lord of the manor. She wants Lex - Alexander. Open your eyes, my love. I have things to tell you.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Lying in that little metal box, I knew Clark would save me. It's almost a given, now. He feels responsible for the weirdness in Smallville. In a way, he is. But I know that it isn't his hand gripping mine so tightly that the pain brings me back. And I know whose eyes I will find when I open mine. A rare smile, and suspiciously bright eyes. Not a side of him most people see - he guards that jealously. And I know that I can sleep now, because anything trying to threaten me while he's in the room had better be prepared for a fight. Be it kidnappers, mutants or officious nurses. He won't leave.  
  
I hope that Lex finds the bastard responsible before the police do.  
  
***  
  
Turns out that the culprit -was- the police. We go tearing off to the funfair (and I will never look at carnivals the same way again) and having headed off Whitney the truck-killer from driving, I then had to distract him into phoning for support, while Clark became a blur.  
  
Seeing the guy shot, through his own eyes. That had to be a bitch. Lana looked so small, in the curve of Clark's arm.   
  
CLARK  
  
We have something from the crash site. I thought Lex would let it drop, should have known better. He gets so obsessed, loses perspective. He's driven to know all the answers. I can see why he and Chloe get on.   
  
That is such a strange thing. Two people you would never expect to meet. I never knew what I was missing, until I saw them together. It makes my crush on Lana look so pale. Chloe doesn't let a lot show, but she has expressive eyes. And Lex...he's even worse for clamming up. Unless you catch him looking at her, when he thinks no-one is watching. Standing at the window of the hospital room, I wanted to be the one there, holding her hand. I rescued her. But I don't belong there.   
  
CHLOE  
  
Clark has left a lovely mess in my office. He killed my printer. The paperwork has become an art installation. But someone has been -in- here again. Not Mr Olsen - we have a system of reporting now, carefully edited to keep him sweet. We have a new player in town. I need to tell Lex. The Kents and Clark have become so used to keeping secrets, they don't realise how dangerous it is. Once the knowledge is out there, you can't shut it away again.  
  
We're tied together now. I understand why Lex likes to get in his car and drive so fast. Some days I just want to drive as far and as fast away from here as I can, be just normal. That isn't an option, though. Another thing about knowledge, is that you can't run from it.  
  
I got the internship at the Planet. A hollow victory. I find myself waking in the night now, reaching up to make sure that I can breathe. How am I going to manage in the city?   
  
The first night back in my own house, I didn't know what to do with myself. Didn't want to go to bed. Then there was a knock at the door, a murmur of voices, and Dad let Lex in. He didn't say anything, just came and stood in the doorway, put out his hand. And I led him upstairs.   
  
LEX  
  
I still don't know what to think. Could a simple desire for fame have caused this? For one minute, when I heard the news, I thought I would get a ransom demand. Thought my father might get one. Frantically thought of who knew about us, who would believe that a Luthor would pay. Wondered if it was my father, reaching out to fuck something up, to prove he still had clout. Then it just turned out to be a random lunatic. And the stupid local police shot him before I got a chance to...talk... with him.  
  
I prop up on my elbow, watch my girl sleep. He made her cry, and I would cheerfully have kept him alive long enough to answer for that. If Clark hadn't found her...hadn't found her in time, I would have killed him. Slowly. It doesn't make me proud, but you have to face the darkness in yourself, make sense of it. I don't see my darkness, unless I stand in her light. Too much hospital coffee, not enough sleep - I'm drifting into strange metaphor. So I watch her sleep, because I still have her.   
  
No other woman has ever affected me like this. Maybe there is something in that Greek myth - the being split, forever searching for its perfect other half. I never met anyone that challenged me, matched me, and I certainly never expected to meet that someone in Smallville.   
  
When I knocked on the door tonight, I wasn't Lex Luthor, Gabe Sullivan's boss and de facto acting chairman of Luthercorp. I was Chloe's boyfriend. Because she needed me to be. -I- needed to be. In no small part, the economy of this town depends on me. But tonight, it can all just...fuck off, because I need to hold my girl, know she's okay.  
  
And tomorrow, I have to be strong again. Because I have to solve these puzzles faster than anyone, I'm the one that has to hold the pieces together. Clark might be able to stop bullets, but we're going to be playing in my arena now. We have the government, the press and Luthercorp itself in the mix. And all that stands between them and the small, simple lives of these people is me. My advantage - people think I'm just a spoilt rich kid. They underestimate me. I just have to hope that I'm strong enough, fast enough to deal with it. Is this how Clark feels? 


	2. Emotional Tyranny

~Just seen 'Tempest' - can I just say 'argh!' For anyone that's read Brave New World II Chapter 12 - does this situation feel familiar? Y'know, the whole 'father in busted back peril' thing?...So, we're gonna have to play the angles here.~  
  
2. Emotional Tyranny   
  
LEX  
  
I watched that fucking chopper come down, and I could hear Wagner, I swear. I almost expect the old bastard to jump out, sweep past me. But instead, we get techno-drones, with their little wires and projectors.   
  
He's got a holographic projector. Another of his proto-types, and we know what the last one did to you, Dad. Horribly convincing, and I'm gaping at the resolution quality, before the sense of the words gets through.  
  
Shit.  
  
In the stinging silence, I can't even find the words to respond. He's not even here for me to deal with. I'm left with an afterimage on my eyelids, and a churning stomach. All I know is, I need to speak to Chloe. Now.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Lex looks nearly as bad as my father. My boyfriend, never usually at a loss for an apposite comment, can't find the words to apologise. It's not his fault - he was so pleased that we'd turned a profit this quarter. We might have known that that -shit- wouldn't let it go.   
  
He won't be taking me to the Spring Formal. Won't be showing his face outside his door until he's salvaged something from all of this. And I understand. Really I do. Though my inner princess kicks up a stink. Nearly bite through my tongue not expressing my feelings, but he looks like someone has hit him.   
  
I don't think it really hit -me- before, how the economy of this town depends on him. And how he just shoulders it, tries to keep doing the right thing, or his version of it.   
  
But we can't deal with each other right now. I need to process the fact that I may have to leave my life here. My home, my friends. For once, I don't have the words either. I need to go talk to normal people, who don't destroy lives as part of a father-son bonding ritual. Head off to my sanctuary.  
  
CLARK  
  
I can't picture Smallville without Chloe. Or Lex.   
  
Even my Dad expressed something like sympathy for him. They had another row about 'the secret', so he hasn't been over in a while. I'll have to go see him.   
  
LEX  
  
Given the choice between incompetence and malice, I think I'll take malice.   
  
I'm a walking hazard. People close to me die, or get hurt.   
  
Clark left, and just afterwards, I heard it. The steady heartbeat of rotors.   
  
Telling my father that he had to stay in hospital was tantamount to shoving him out the door. Contra-suggestible, or just bloody-minded? It doesn't matter. Half the security systems are off-line, so they don't fuck up the medical equipment, and he's squatting in my house like a broken-backed spider. Watching my every move.  
  
I hate feeling helpless. It clouds my judgement.   
  
I can raise the funds for 90% of an employee-led buyout. Trying to convince a group of men with the most fragile reasons to believe me. Even Gabe is dubious. And I can't tell them that I need to win this because I have a secret in the cellar that my father can't find out about. I've been half-expecting a mob with pitchforks to turn up outside the gates. But no-one came. Even the Ledger just ran without a comment. A picture that captured me gaping like an idiot, as my father confirmed every opinion of me that I have spent so long countering.  
  
At least Clark came to see me. That meant a lot. 


	3. Prince Charming Vibe

LANA  
  
"Guess you don't have to worry about a dress." Clark has the subtlety of a kick in the head.  
  
My boyfriend decided to put on a uniform and go save the world. And I don't know how to react. When I thought he was going to propose, I nearly threw up. Then Clark tells me he's taking Chloe to the dance anyway. What are they thinking? She's dating his best friend. Then I remember that I'm still dating Whitney.  
  
Lana Lang and her perfect life. Yeah, right. Aunt Nell is so angry with me - I can tell by that brittle way she slaps the dishes down. I don't know what her deal is. She's been pissy ever since she got back from Metropolis (- like I don't know about the 'business trips'. Part of the reason I could never look at Lex the same way.-) But she had the perfect dress picked out. Stocked the right flowers. And somehow I'm letting her down - because I saw someone get shot the other week, but hey, let it go, and concentrate on looking like nothing ever gets you down.  
  
Who am I kidding? Besides everyone else. When I heard that the plant was closing, I thought - Chloe will be gone, and so will Lex, and then maybe things will go back to the way they were. Only without Whitney. How crap is that? His father dies, and he gets a crusade on. And I can't think that he might end up in some desert somewhere, because I'm busy wondering if maybe I can ask Clark to go with me on Saturday. 'Just friends', of course. Like last time.   
  
Only he's 'just friends' with Chloe. And Lex is going to be mad as hell when he finds out.   
  
I hear myself.  
  
"We're getting left behind."  
  
-I'm- getting left behind. I want to be in Chloe Sullivan's shoes. How ironic is that? I've always envied her closeness to Pete and Clark. The nearest female friend I had was Tina, until she went all SWF on me. Now the resident weird girl is dating the most eligible man in town, and she has one of the most handsome dogging her heels. And I'm letting a man who loves me head off to boot camp, holding onto a dream that doesn't exist any more.   
  
A real fairytale life. 


	4. Crash and Burn

CLARK  
  
Someone blew up my truck. While I was in it.  
  
I was feeling kinda guilty. When Lex said that he couldn't make Saturday, I just jumped in, said I'd take Chloe, just friends. And he looked at me. Nodded. So I was beating the crap out of the fence-posts. Knowing that I was being selfish, grasping at straws.  
  
But Chloe...when she found out what I was, the first thing she did was to hug me.   
  
No bruises, no pain. I didn't feel a thing. If this happens to me on the outside, will it happen on the inside, too? I want to feel things. Anger that my friends will be leaving, sadness.  
  
Guilt. Because I get an evening with Chloe. Because Whitney is leaving Lana behind.   
  
LEX  
  
Attack and counter-attack. I try and stage an employee-led buyout, my father counters by buying up the Savings and Loan. Somewhere, there is a leak, a bleed in the loyalties. Who can I trust?  
  
And all the time, the little thought in my mind - Clark is taking Chloe to the dance Saturday. I'm trying to save their town, their homes, and they go dancing.  
  
I'm living in a nightmare. My life is being stripped away from me - job, home, dignity, reputation, friends. A few days ago, I was looking forward to taking Chloe to her school dance. Cheesy, and I'm not exactly liked by most people, but I was tolerated. Now, though.  
  
Every time I have something normal in my grasp, it gets taken away. Is it so much to ask?  
  
Chloe is going with Clark. Just friends. How could I object? Two old friends, without a date? Except that my girlfriend had a crush on my best friend well before she met me, and my best friend just woke up to the fact a while ago. Even thinking about not trusting them shows what an evil, suspicious mind I have. But then - I'm a Luthor.  
  
I love Chloe. But I don't know if she loves me. Especially now.  
  
And I -know- who blew up that fucking truck. I could -smell- Nixon. Had to pretend I didn't know him, and at some point, I'm going to have to tell Clark about him. Came home, and he was in my house, because I can't defend it any more, and he was holding that piece of whatever it is. He knows about the vault, and please God, he hasn't been down there. Or seen my father. But he knows. He has evidence.  
  
CHLOE  
  
What is this? The Last Temptation of Chloe? A couple months ago, this would have been my dream - Spring Formal with Clark. But we're going as friends, because my boyfriend can't make it.  
  
Lana is still dating Whitney. It still hurts when Clark looks at her, but now I hurt for him, because he's too noble to take away the one thing that is holding Whitney Fordman together anymore. And he could, because she doesn't look at Whitney with a woman's love, but with that of a mother or a sister.  
  
How do I know? I listen. I watch people. And I know the way that I look at Clark has changed, too.  
  
And now Whitney is leaving town. Enlisting. One obstacle gone.  
  
And the plant is closing. So Chloe will be leaving, too. Two obstacles gone.  
  
Then Clark asks -me- to go to the dance, so I don't miss it. And I say yes, because I want something normal and fun in my life.  
  
So I'm going to the dance with an indestructible alien. Okay. 


	5. Storm Warning / Don't Get Caught in the ...

~ Okay (*paranoid, shifty glance from side to side*) the characters aren't mine - just because the show started to use my situations and dialogue (seriously!) CAUSING EXTENSIVE DELAY AND REWRITES doesn't mean I get a penny...but I looove feedback :) ~  
  
5. Storm Warning / Don't Get Caught in the Open.  
  
LEX  
  
Clark is so angry, I think he's going to knock me into Montana.  
  
"It could have been my parents in that truck! It could have been Chloe!"  
  
"I know!"  
  
Perhaps if he hit me, it would all stop. I'm so tired. Can't remember the last time I slept. Draw a ragged breath. Focus.  
  
"I've been trying to reign him in."  
  
"Dammit, Lex, if you hadn't started this..."   
  
And he's right. But I -needed- answers that no-one was willing to give me. Now it's my fault that some fucking alien is hiding out in the Midwest? The pieces are slipping away from me.   
  
He stands there, in his fucking tuxedo, and I want to strangle him with his bowtie. I was trying to apologise, and that is something I -never- do. Never explain, never apologise, right?   
  
"Keep an eye out for him, Clark. Stop him if you have to."  
  
CLARK  
  
I -knew- he was lying in the Talon. I don't know how, but something gave it away. He knew Nixon. Now he tells me that his tame newshound has slipped the leash. Tried to barbecue me to prove some theory that Lex put in his head. I can feel all sorts of things now. Rage and fear.  
  
"Does Chloe know about him?"  
  
And he goes grey. Every muscle in his jaw taut.  
  
"He's the one that must have been in the Torch office." Drop the words like stones, and he didn't know about that either. His face closes up, eyes cold gunmetal. This isn't my friend - this is the man who could destroy this town. Has.  
  
"Are you going to tell her? Or are you going to pretend you don't know him next time he turns up in her office?"  
  
Suddenly he's in my face.  
  
"Don't you dare get fucking self-righteous about lying, Clark. We're both protecting ourselves, okay?"  
  
A horn toots outside. Chloe.   
  
"You're going to have to protect her, Clark." That comes from between his teeth, and that must hurt his pride.   
  
I can't deal with him now. I'm angry, and I'm guilty, and I'm afraid.   
  
He never lies to Chloe. If she thinks he's going to start, her world will fall in.   
  
"And what are you going to do? Go back and hide in your mansion?"  
  
"I'm going..." The fight goes out of him. "Go. Have fun. I'll deal with it."  
  
Another angry toot, and Chloe is not the most patient of people. If she comes up here...  
  
I go.  
  
LEX  
  
Shit.  
  
I don't need to be fighting with Clark on top of everything else. But Chloe will be safe with him. And I can go back to trying to get some of those board members to return my calls.  
  
In a minute.  
  
***  
  
MARTHA  
  
I went into the barn, to do a regular sweep for coffee mugs and other debris. Found Lex Luthor asleep on the couch. Eyes like bruises and he's lost weight he can ill afford. Maybe that's just the mother in me.  
  
He's too young to be doing this. The thought strikes me like a blow. He's the same age as the Fletcher boy, who works at Fordman's. He's younger than Pete's brother Steve.   
  
I don't think anybody ever sees him this vulnerable. Except maybe Chloe.   
  
Eyes snap open, and the child disappears behind the man. Nobody that young should have eyes that disillusioned.  
  
"Mrs. Kent...Martha. I'm sorry, I should go..."  
  
The memory of his sleeping openness makes me put out my hand.  
  
"Don't rush, Lex. You look like you could do with a break."  
  
A tired smile that holds the weight of the last week in it.  
  
"I don't really have the time." Pushes himself to his feet, puts on the mask of competence and control.   
  
"Martha!"  
  
Jonathan. He halts on the stairs, and they lock eyes. I'm very aware that my husband came close to discharging both barrels of a shotgun into Lex not long ago, and I know Lex hasn't forgotten either. The uneasy truce has been strained to its limits lately.  
  
"We've got a weather warning."  
  
Lex grew up in the city, but he knows the state. Is already moving.   
  
We all see the car peel away from the fence boundary at the same time. Lex strangles out an obscenity. His tyres have been slashed.  
  
LEX  
  
It's twelve miles to the mansion by road. Five miles across country. I'm already running for the Potter place before I catch up to my sub-conscious.  
  
I used to ride when I was small - one of the few sports that didn't set off my asthma. Later I played polo. Neither thing prepares me for riding an unfamiliar horse across unfamiliar terrain. Bareback. Add horse-theft to the list of Luthor crimes. Mom always said I had a natural seat on a horse. I hope that she was right. 


	6. Best Friend's Girl / Do The Twist

6. Best Friend's Girl / Do The Twist  
  
CLARK  
  
Chloe looks beautiful. She bought me a button-hole. A white rose-bud.  
  
Lex buys her white roses. I push that thought away.  
  
Pete and his latest girl. Chloe skips away to take pictures, and I find myself talking to Whitney.   
  
He wants me to take care of Lana while he's away.   
  
First Lex, now Whitney. Asking me to look after the women they love. Putting me in a position that makes me squirm, because I love them both.  
  
A few months ago, I would have wanted to be dancing with Lana. Now I'm torn. In my arms is the most sparkling, witty woman in the room. I would like to kiss her, but I can't.  
  
I never realised what I had until I lost it.  
  
She's my best friend's girl. That's how the song goes, isn't it?  
  
She glows when they are together. You can see it. It's like a light inside her, happy and confident. Now the light has dimmed a bit. I could step in.  
  
But I can't. I'm the good guy.  
  
Chloe was just...Chloe. Until I saw her through Lex's eyes. He's an experienced guy, right, from the big city. And he saw what I'd been blind to. And suddenly, I saw it too. Every so often, I flashback on that film I saw. Which makes me feel like crap, because of the other things it makes me feel.  
  
The telescope points up to the stars now.  
  
CHLOE  
  
Dancing with Clark at the Spring Formal. My favourite song. Intimate and sweet, and so very, very wrong.  
  
I haven't seen or spoken with Lex for a couple of days, and it feels like so much longer. Even though we don't see each other much during the week, I'm used to the sense of him being there. That I could call on my cell-phone, and hear his voice. But I went teenage on him. So what he needs at the moment. Right on, Sullivan. He's trying to save your Dad's job.  
  
Have to reach up a little further to Clark's shoulders, and the adjustment burns up my nerves. I shouldn't be here.   
  
The dream that I held for most of the last year, and it's just...wrong. The wrong man. It should be Lex here, smiling down at me, and not having to be the one in charge of everything.  
  
The music stops. We were an inch away from destroying everything. I don't blame him for running.  
  
***  
  
LANA  
  
I don't know who I'm crying for. Whitney or myself.  
  
I gave him my pendant. 'For luck'. Letting go of my past. All of it.  
  
I'm tired of grieving bravely. Tired of being perfect. I'd like to have a bad day without it being Torch fodder.   
  
I'm the type of girl that wants to cheat on her boyfriend.  
  
Her brave marine boyfriend, who just lost his father.  
  
Being hit in the face by a row of mailboxes is a rude awakening. And I watch the silent columns dance across the fields towards me, weaving and spinning. Can't do anything but climb back into the cab in numb fear.  
  
And the only thing that comes to mind,  
  
"Clark!" 


	7. Hostage To Fortune

7. Hostage to Fortune  
  
MARTHA  
  
We have to take my car. The windshield is still crazed from when I hit poor little Ryan, but without that cheque from Lex, we don't have the money for that -and- the tractor -and- the truck. Jonathan doesn't want me to be there, but we have to get to the mansion. The way Lex took off confirmed every suspicion we've had about the truck. I have no idea how he intends to get to the mansion, haven't time to think about it, turning my bag upside down for the keys, wrenching open the doors, and we're going to be driving across the path of the storm.  
  
Jonathan fights the car every mile of the road, using words he'd belt Clark for. He's been on a knife-edge since we found Lex in the storm-cellar. Found out he knew. Jon and Lionel have a history, something involving Nell Potter, and it blinds Jon to any good in the Luthor clan.   
  
Everything is wide open when we get there, which is good, because I don't think that the car would have coped with the gates. Jonathan has his bloody shotgun again, is running for the door.   
  
In the vault, and instead of the Luthors, a narrow-faced man in a cheap suit, who isn't expecting an angry mid-western farmer to throw him up against the wall.   
  
But the ship...Clark's ship...is -glowing-. Rivers of light, gliding across its surface, rising in the air.   
  
He's babbling something about keys, aliens, runs for the stairs, with Jon after him.  
  
I'm staring into the light...  
  
LEX  
  
The enigma piece has gone. That little bastard is somewhere round here with a time bomb in his pocket. Threatening to go to my father if I don't take him seriously, and I just hope he hasn't.  
  
The power has gone out, taking whatever security systems I still had with it. The emergency generator hasn't come on, which suggests human agency. This house is now completely open to whoever wants to brave the elements to get here.   
  
It's a dark and stormy night. I can feel hysteria building. The library doors fly open, in true melodramatic style.  
  
"Using your mother's stock."  
  
Yes, Dad, because you can't touch that. And mentioning that means you haven't found out about the other stuff. But I don't have time for this big dramatic scene now - I have another one to head off.  
  
He seems genuinely surprised that I want to be free of him.   
  
Strobing light, glass and a flashback to the townhouse. Noise and confusion. A moments darkness.  
  
This place was not built to withstand the weather patterns of the Midwest.   
  
I'm under something, and there's blood in my eyes.   
  
He's calling my name. A pillar across him, and the only reason he's not dead is the fact that the wheelchair has buckled over him. But he can't pull himself free, and there's a stake pointed at his heart. How fucking appropriate.  
  
Fear in his eyes, because I have control. And this time, there isn't anybody else here to talk me round.   
  
I made my decision in that hospital room. But that was before he pulled this latest threat out of the bag. What will it take to be free of him? 


	8. Do The Wright Thing

8. Do The Wright Thing  
  
CLARK  
  
The truck is dragged up off the ground, and I hear her despairing cry.   
  
Run.  
  
-Inside- the storm.  
  
I look up. A circle of blue sky and absolute stillness. Sometimes the world slows down around me. I can see dust held in sunlight. Around me, a wall of darkness, dirt and debris, and I can see it turning, see the currents moving through the surface, and no-one else will ever know how beautiful it is. Slow the world some more, and I'm a fly held in amber - Jurassic Clark. Existing in a pillar of light and peace, in the middle of devastation.  
  
Held at the still centre of the world, I stretch out my arms, lean into the wind. Kick off with one foot. Rise.   
  
I'm moving through slow spinning fragments of the world, somehow faster than the storm. Riding the wind, power to make me feel small. Searching through the darkness, find the shape I'm looking for. Pull the door off the truck, and I don't even have to try. Take the limp form of Lana in my arms, and she's so fragile. The world snaps back with a roar, and I have to get out of the storm, before gravity notices me.  
  
Hold her close to my body, shield her, and I remember how tiny she felt when the glass showered down around us. Now, I know that I'm being struck by debris, but it has no effect. Let the wind carry us up. I can see so -much- from here. The whole of Lowell county spread out in front of us, and I can't share this with anyone. I haven't the words.  
  
Above the world, above fear and anger and guilt. Rising above the doubts and fears. And more than the wind is holding me here. I can feel it humming in my blood. Strange echo of the dreams that made me float. Golden light and a voice beyond the edge of hearing.  
  
Spat out into the world with sudden force, and we're falling. Twist my body, so that Lana is cradled against my chest. And Kansas strikes me between the shoulder-blades. 


	9. Reaping The Whirlwind

9. Reaping the Whirlwind  
  
LEX  
  
The beam shifts, drops another foot.  
  
Fucking italian shoes sliding against the floor, and that's blood they're in. Mine, his, and I can't see properly, daren't take my hands off the wood.  
  
This isn't fair. I've made the decision to be a good guy. Drop to put my shoulder under the pillar, try and reach round to drag him out.  
  
"My son..."  
  
"Shut up and help, Dad."  
  
Luthors don't work well together. He's pulling at my leg, and I can't shake him off to get a decent grip.  
  
I can't carry this all by myself.  
  
I don't know how Jonathan Kent came to be here, but suddenly, he's there, putting his shoulder under the beam, pushing it to one side, and we lift some of the weight.  
  
JONATHAN  
  
I don't know what happened that night in Metropolis. Clark never told us, though I have my suspicions.  
  
I've wondered since - how close did Lex come to leaving Lionel in there? Would I? Now I get to find out how strong my principles are.  
  
Lex is trying to lift Lionel out from under a pile of masonry. Fighting, and I wouldn't have expected that. The little shit I was chasing has flung himself out through the front doors, and even as I'm about to go after him, he's picked off his feet and disappears. Something inside the house -gives-, I feel it through the floor. And I'm fighting to close the doors on the madness outside, even as windows shatter all along the front of the house.  
  
The first time I have ever seen Lex under less than perfect control. Even when he was holding that pistol in my face, he didn't pull the trigger. I'm the one who reacted there, and that leaves a bad taste. He's losing.   
  
Can I stand here and watch him watch his father die, because there are some things even a Luthor can't do?   
  
Could I face Clark if I did?  
  
Clark would hold up the whole damn house if he had to. Lex is just a man.  
  
So I put my shoulder under the wood. Working together with Lex Luthor. He gives me a blank dazed look, his face half-blood, gets both arms under Lionel and heaves him backwards.  
  
The beam drives into the floor, a shower of brick and plaster, and we fall back.   
  
The second time Lex has saved his father's life.   
  
LIONEL  
  
Red hair, and for one second, I think it's Lili. But it's Martha Kent, stumbling in through the doorway, checking her husband for damage.  
  
Where is my son?  
  
Alive, and sitting, staring into space. Thinking. I can no longer predict what he will do. Push a man enough and you will find the source of his strength and his weakness. What will he fight for?  
  
This town, these people. One small girl.  
  
I don't see her here.  
  
Have I broken them?  
  
"Lex."  
  
He doesn't respond until the third call. Not because he didn't hear me, but because he is preparing himself. Lili's eyes, but cold and hard. Blood has caked around one, giving him a demonic aspect. Some flicker of expression, when I put out a hand, take his shoulder. He hates to be touched, but I need to know that he is real. Alive.  
  
"I can't raise contact with Metropolis." he says. "You'll have to use the local facilities and whatever team you have with you."  
  
I have no feeling in my legs anyway. And apart from shock, there is no other pain. I continue to hold his shoulder.   
  
"Are you hurt?"  
  
"Dad, there's no press here to see the act." Shrugs me off. He looks exhausted, but still defiant. "Let's get down to business."  
  
In the ruins of his home, his life, he still spits at the lightning.  
  
"So...I owe you the plant for saving my life?" Watch him closely. "Lex, you can walk away from this place. Come back to Metropolis."  
  
"No." Jaw set. "You cannot rip this town apart to get even with me."   
  
LEX  
  
One last breath.  
  
"But if you leave the plant running, I will come back."  
  
Faust and Mephistopheles. I will sell my soul for this fucking cow-town and they will never know.  
  
A very clear bargain. He leaves this town alone. And gets me. What he wants. The obedient and dutiful son. The Crown Prince at his father's side.  
  
The biggest threat to everyone's safety has always been me.  
  
Clear mocking eyes. I meet his gaze calmly. It's over. I've lost. But I don't have to take anybody with me.  
  
He's laughing. The bastard is laughing at me.  
  
"Christ, I wish I had fucking killed you in the hospital!" That comes out too loud, and both the Kent's hear it.   
  
"Lex, Lex...Do you really think to bargain at a time like this?"  
  
"I think it's an excellent time to make a deal." Jonathan Kent. He would definitely like me out of everyone's life. His wife comes out of the shelter of his arm, and draws me back by the shoulders.   
  
MARTHA  
  
The light snaps out and the ship hits the floor with a dull thump. The images in my head go out, leave me dazed and blind.   
  
Clark's world. I have seen a piece of his past. I always felt that he must have been loved - he clung to us so trustingly. Now I can feel that love and reassurance, and a terrible sadness.   
  
Another thump, from somewhere above me, and I have to find Jonathan.  
  
This house wasn't built for this place, shaking itself apart.   
  
Jon, covered in dust and blood. None of it appears to be his own. Lionel, a torn rag-doll caricature of his normal self, laughing. And Lex, looking like nothing human. Spitting out terrible words that show the dark heart of their family.  
  
I check him for damage, too. He doesn't want to be fussed over, but I have had years of dealing with the Kent men, and God knows, they can be stubborn. He finally submits, shocked, after I slap him. He's been pushed to the edge of endurance - we all have.  
  
Jonathan squats down to an eye level with Lionel.  
  
"Your boy just saved your life. I think the least you can do is listen to him." It would be quite reasonable, without that ugly little sentence that we both heard.  
  
"I am listening. He's bargaining with what I already own."  
  
Lex tenses up.  
  
"You do -not- own me!"  
  
"Did he tell you how my back got broken, Jonathan? That your son did it?"   
  
I can't hold back a sob. Remember the children flying off in the car that night, Clark bringing Chloe back some hours later, uncharacteristically silent. The tense faces as they watched the news.  
  
"Tell them why, Dad. Tell them about the cameras."  
  
This isn't how normal people are. Spying and cameras. Guns at midnight, and secret laboratories. Bargaining with their lives. Blowing up trucks with teenage boys in them, just to find out what happens.   
  
"Why would they be interested in your bedroom exploits?"  
  
Bedroom exploits. That means...I can fully understand why Lex might want to kill this man. My skin crawls. Jon looks sick and furious in equal measure. Poor little Chloe. Lex goes very still.   
  
"Enough." he says. Absolutely cold. No emotion. "What will it take to make you leave these people, this town, alone?"  
  
"Now I know that you value their welfare?"  
  
JONATHAN  
  
The snick-lock of the shotgun is shockingly loud, even above the storm.  
  
Lionel can't believe it as the barrels go up under his chin.   
  
My wife has become an avenging fury.  
  
"You evil low down piece of shit, Lionel."  
  
I taught Martha to handle a gun. She had no idea when she left the city, came out to the country, what life on a farm would be like. But she put up with it, put up with me. I forget sometimes what she's like when she's roused. Now our lives, our home, our son, have been threatened. Grabbing her could make the gun go off, and no-one could miss at that range. Lionel knows it. Real fear in his eyes, and a wary respect.  
  
"Mother love." he murmurs. "The most powerful force in the w..."  
  
"Shut up." She jabs the gun forward. "Listen to me. I've had enough of this idiocy. What will it take to make you go away, Lionel? Bargaining doesn't work. Do you understand threats?"  
  
"Very well."  
  
"Good. I want you to leave this town alone. I want you to leave your son alone, because I think he's taken about all a man can. I want you to leave my son alone, because if you don't, I swear I will blow your goddam head off. Do you understand me?"  
  
"Perfectly."  
  
She eases back a little bit.  
  
Lex looks at me, nods once. I take Martha round the waist, he whips out a pale hand, pulls the barrels up. Deafening blast.  
  
It makes its point. Martha collapses into tears. My wife just tried to assassinate Lionel Luthor in front of his son. Third time the charm, because the bastard is still alive.   
  
Lex is sprawled out on the floor. Lionel makes hoarse noise in his throat, reaches for him.  
  
"Lex!" 


	10. Strange Angel

10. Strange Angel  
  
LANA  
  
Half of Lowell County has been trashed.  
  
I know where I am before I open my eyes. Smell of hospitals. I hate it.  
  
I don't know how I got here. The last thing I remember is the truck lifting into the air. And Clark. I thought I saw Clark.  
  
Not that I'm telling anyone that. They nearly sectioned me last time. And one patient has already been sedated - very badly hurt, and raving about spaceships.  
  
I keep seeing unexpected people. Judge Ross, holding two small crying children. Two of the staff from the bank acting as temporary stretcher bearers. Our Chemistry teacher, talking earnestly to one of the doctors. Pete Ross, who comes over, smiles,  
  
"Hey."  
  
"Hey yourself." I don't get to talk to Pete much, but he was on the squad with Whitney.  
  
"Your truck is probably in Oz by now. Pretty intense, huh?"  
  
He's still in his tux.   
  
"What are you doing here, anyhow?"  
  
"My good deed." Rolls up his sleeve. "I'm a donor."  
  
"Pete!" Chloe peers round the door. "Hey, Lana, you okay?"  
  
"I've been better." I manage a smile for her. "Where's Clark?"  
  
"Oh." Wide-eyed. "I'm just on my way to find him."  
  
Liar. Pete raises an eyebrow at me as she whisks off.  
  
"You'd make a lousy poker-player, Lang."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"C'mon. They got their bizarre love triangle thang going on. No place for us there." He holds up his hands. "I stepped off that particular ride, girl. Got me something else. You need to do that too."  
  
People forget about Pete. He's the quiet one, the third amigo. The guy that got left behind. He settles back into his chair, loosens his tie.   
  
"You mind if I just sit for a while? It's pretty crazy out there."  
  
"No, I don't mind." Uncomplicated company. No weight of the world on his shoulders, no crusading fervour after truth or justice or the next big deal. Just a guy. He chuckles suddenly, looks guilty.  
  
"What?"  
  
"No..."  
  
"Yes. Spill."  
  
"Oh, this is messed up. Couple months ago, Clark was following you like a puppy and Chloe was ranting. Now she gets a new guy and he's on her case. And you suddenly notice him."  
  
"I always noticed Clark." Oops. "I was...have been...-whatever-, with Whitney for a long time. You can't just walk away from what you have for something you don't know."  
  
"You knew, girl." But he has a tired grin on.   
  
"If we're going daytime tv here, what about you and Chloe?"  
  
He flaps a hand.  
  
"She's dating that shithead, and however much I hate him, he makes her happy."  
  
"Not now he's run the plant into the ground."  
  
Pete twitches, looks like he's bitten on a tooth.  
  
"That was his father - I don't see our boy screwing up his girl's future. She'd kill him."  
  
The mental picture of Lex Luthor being pounded into the ground by a tiny blonde makes me laugh. Weak laughter, and I might just cry, but at the moment, it's what I need. And when I do start to cry, Pete puts his arms round me.   
  
"You let it out, okay. Don't have to be Little Miss Sunshine for me. We both got left out of this, but we'll deal." 


	11. Let The Truth Sting

11. Let The Truth Sting  
  
CHLOE  
  
I've been driving this damn car for hours. Clark got out of the hall, but I got stuck there. Trying to find excuses for Pete when he came looking to see why Clark had abandoned me. I'm getting tired of that, because Pete and I used to be close. And all I could think of was that Clark nearly kissed me. I nearly kissed him.  
  
I want to see Lex. I need to see him.   
  
I left him alone to face whatever happened, just so I could have a little fun. A little normality. This is Smallville - we don't do normal. My first big dance and a fucking tornado rips up the state. Wouldn't you just guess?  
  
I nearly kissed Clark.   
  
Now I need Lex's arms round me, his lips on mine, so I can tell him that I haven't left him. That I'm here.  
  
Because he's seen Clark be 'just friends' before. Because he went ahead and let me do whatever. He trusted me, trusted Clark, and it's been so hard to get him to trust.   
  
I don't want to go back to Metropolis like this.   
  
Did he trust us? Or is he expecting to be betrayed? I need to see him.  
  
Taking people to the damn hospital because I've got a car, and I don't want to be here.  
  
Clark got to Lana in time. She's dazed and bruised, but she's alive. No sign of Clark, and that's a good thing right now.  
  
The town is a mess. Buildings, trees, vehicles. Nothing is where it should be, and the sky is one big bruise still. The world turned upside-down.  
  
I nearly put both feet through the bottom of the car when Clark -appears- in the road ahead of me. Fight to maintain control of the car as it slides, and -know- that's going to be expensive when I hear the thud. Two hands on the side of the vehicle, and he's stopped it like he was catching a soda-can.  
  
He looks like he's been standing in a shredder. Slightly glassy-eyed.  
  
Riding the tornado. Jesus.   
  
He's been back to the farm, found Lex's car wrecked up in the side of the barn. No sign of his parents. And he won't run ahead.  
  
"I need to stay with you."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Lex asked me to protect you."  
  
"From what?" Total suspicion now. What has he done now?  
  
Sometimes I despise my chosen profession. Grip the wheel really tightly, because he didn't tell me. Realise that this must be our player in the office, and that -I- didn't tell -him-. Crap.  
  
Clark is wriggling uncomfortably.  
  
"Chloe.."  
  
"Don't, Clark. We nearly messed up."  
  
"Oh." Small, hurt voice. Sometimes I don't believe him.   
  
We left Lex to cover our backs, while we goofed off. I have never told Lex I love him. He's my lover, but I have never said the words. I've been too scared. Just took him for granted. Seen my father moving through the house, a stunned ghost. Never thought that Lex must be doing the same thing - only with the knowledge that everyone blames him. And I wasn't there. Don't know what I could have done - I have no experience of business of finance. But I should have been there.   
  
So I might have to start a new High School? Okay, I have good grades. It's not like I have to start looking for another job. Like my father. -My- father loves me.  
  
Why would Lex want a silly little girl who runs away at the first sign of trouble?  
  
"We can't just leave it, Chloe."  
  
"We can."   
  
"Stop the car."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Stop the car, or I'll stop it." He means it.  
  
I stop the car. Bounce round in my seat.  
  
"Talk fast - we haven't the time for this."  
  
"Chloe...I have feelings for you, okay?"  
  
"Well, you shouldn't. I'm no longer available, Clark. What is it with you? Only girls with boyfriends? We don't exist while we're solo?" He gapes. I'm getting nicely warmed up. "I'm dating your new best friend, remember?"  
  
CLARK  
  
Every word hits like a stone.   
  
"That wasn't just me back in that hall, Chloe."  
  
"I know. And it was wrong. I'm sorry. I was playing at having a normal life." She blinks back tears. "You'll always be special to me, Clark. But I'm with Lex."  
  
"What happens when he goes back to Metropolis?" I'm being cruel, and angry. Hate fighting with Chloe, but we need to do this. "Will he come and pick you up from High school in his limo?  
  
Actually feel the impact of her palm.  
  
CHLOE  
  
I think I broke something.  
  
Possibly my friendship. Shocked pause, then he bites his lip.  
  
"God, Chloe, I'm sorry."  
  
I'm tired and frightened, and I don't want to fight with Clark. We can't afford to fight. We can't afford to fight with Lex. An unwelcome thought.  
  
Concentrate.  
  
"I want to stay friends with you, Clark. Had you even -thought- about what this would do to Lex? He -trusts- you."  
  
He's keeping the biggest secret you have locked up in his house, and do you really want to upset him?  
  
"Fuck!" I've never heard Clark swear like that before. He puts his head in his hands. "What are you going to tell him?"  
  
"The truth. We had a good time until you had to go be a boy scout. And that I love -him-."  
  
"Oh." Pause. "Is this because of ...me? And...stuff?"  
  
"Clark!" Process that. "No. I had feelings for you, and then I moved on. Lex doesn't lie to me."  
  
"And I did."  
  
"You did. But by the time I understood why, I had feelings for Lex." I touch his shoulder. "If you had told me before..."  
  
"If I'd told you before, you'd have been helping me keep the secret from -him-."  
  
Draw my hand back. Punch him in the shoulder, to let him know I mean it.  
  
"He could have turned you over to the government or his father by now. He's your -friend-, Clark. Stop channelling Pete for a second and listen to yourself."  
  
"I'm just..." He shakes his head. "I messed up bad this time, didn't I?"  
  
"Yeah." I shift the car into drive again. "Now I need to go see him."  
  
"Whitney asked me to look after Lana for him." He says suddenly. I nearly stall the car.  
  
"Is he -insane-?" Military Intelligence is a definite oxymoron there.   
  
"I just have this face that people trust."  
  
"Stupid people."  
  
"Lex trusted me." He trusted me, too.  
  
"Lex isn't stupid. You're a good guy, Clark Kent. We can fix this." I hope. Horrible thought. "Unless...he doesn't want me anymore."  
  
Oh God. Perhaps the reason I haven't heard from him was because it was too much trouble now. He's fired my father, so he doesn't need to keep making nice with the locals.  
  
CLARK  
  
I can fix this. Need to fix this. Swallow down my feelings, because she's right.  
  
"Don't be so stupid, Clo." Hand on her shoulder. "He'd be crazy. I've seen the way he looks at you."  
  
I could have destroyed everything. My friendship with Lex, my friendship with Chloe. And who knows how Lex would react to being hurt? I'm not blind to his faults, and I know how I feel. I can go and smash rocks up when I'm pissed. Lex could smash the world. Our world certainly. Instead, he's trying to save us all. And Chloe's right. We just left him to get on with it.  
  
"He loves you, Chloe." Words taste bitter, but I can feel the -rightness- of them. "He wouldn't fight so hard if he didn't. He trusted me to look after you, give you a special evening when he couldn't. I'm the one that messed up."  
  
We need to get to the mansion. Find my folks. Find out what's going on.   
  
If that reporter is there, I may have to stop him. If I don't, Lex will. He was prepared to leave his own father to die a while back - what he'd do to someone who wasn't family...  
  
Ryan was right about the darkness in him. But Chloe - is light and fire and energy. She makes him into a different person. They belong together. I had no right to try and get in the way of that. 


	12. All Over Bar The Shouting?

12. All Over Bar The Shouting?  
  
LEX  
  
What the hell just happened?  
  
Shotgun past my ear so close I felt it, and I can't hear a thing. No pain - none worse than just now. Lying here, and wait for the world to flow back.  
  
"Lex...oh my God, Lex!"  
  
Can't be my father. Sounds like an emotion.   
  
Surprisingly comfortable to just lie here. Don't have to do anything. Hands pull at me, over my head, and only Chloe's allowed to do that.   
  
I want my girl to be here.  
  
"Lex, dammit!" That's more like it. "You are not allowed to die, do you hear me?"  
  
Can't hear anything on that side. Martha Kent does Bill Hicks - 'Let's Hunt and Kill Lionel Luthor'...if I had a tv network, it might be worth it.   
  
More voices now. Jonathan trying to comfort a hysterical Martha, who thinks she's killed the wrong Luthor. Too much effort to open my mouth and tell her I'm alive. Not sure about that myself.  
  
Low fierce voice.  
  
"You are not allowed to die, Alexander. You win, boy. Do you hear me? You cannot die on the eve of victory."  
  
All this talk of death is starting to worry me. Have I been hit? Too far gone to feel the pain?  
  
"You can have your damn factory."  
  
I have witnesses. I hope. Open my eyes.  
  
"Want it...in writing."  
  
This time he laughs properly.   
  
"And...I'm not coming back. Work to do." Struggle to sit up. Hit my head again when I went over, and that's getting old now. His hands on my shoulders.  
  
We pick the strangest times to find common ground.  
  
"No prosecutions."  
  
"Discharge of licensed firearm on private property."  
  
Something occurs to me, and that's just perfect, and I find a weak laugh from somewhere.  
  
"You're going to be taking a bath with the Savings and Loan, Dad."  
  
"Insurance."  
  
"Won't cover all of it - need Federal Assistance program. Pay enough taxes."  
  
"You'll have to fire the plant manager."  
  
"Non-negotiable." I rap back. "Blame goes to the reporting structure - false information. Besides, he's the leading light of the buying consortium."  
  
The Kent's are looking at us like we are another species. Try to stand up, and that's not a good idea. Flat on my ass again.  
  
Storm has blown itself out, gone off to beat the crap out of somewhere else. The house is a wreck. So am I.  
  
Burnt my hand on that damn gun. Cut over one eye, pain over the side of my face. Covered in plaster and blood. Head hurts. Muscles hurt - fighting that damned horse, fighting the rubble. Bloody hands, and I don't remember that.   
  
"We'll get the lawyers on it tomorrow." Awkward pat on my shoulder.   
  
"Have your people call my people."  
  
"Always rest before a battle." He advises. For once, I'm going to take his advice.  
  
Bed would be good now.   
  
I'm alive. Take on all comers and never ever lose. Yeah.  
  
I want Chloe here.  
  
  
JONATHAN  
  
The rich really -are- different. And I think the Luthors must have cockroaches in their ancestry. They're damned hard to kill.  
  
Lex actually makes it to his feet this time, but I don't think he'll manage stairs. Stop Martha before she cries all over him. He has a powder burn all up the side of his face, but he doesn't look any worse than he did. Which is pretty bad.  
  
He's found a cell phone that works, is already trying to issue crisp directions to god knows who. Lionel is watching him with an amazingly smug expression for someone who just missed having his head blown off.   
  
Clark is suddenly in the doorway, taking in the scene. I don't want to know how he got in that state, because I don't think I could take it in at the moment. All I know is that he's here and that he's safe. Gather my family up to me. Leave the Luthor family to do things their own way.  
  
LEX  
  
It's like Level III all over again. Happy family unit, while I do damage control. Fuck it.   
  
Then a vivid flash of pink.  
  
Chloe. In the doorway, eyes swallowing up half her face.  
  
Then small hands running up my arms, over my shoulders. Swearing in a most unladylike fashion, and make-up sliding down in her tears. My raging angel. 


	13. Ashes and Ghosts

~ Right. Let's get ambitious here. If we're going to start redeeming villains, let's go BIG. 'Look, Raist, bunnies...'~  
  
13. Ashes and Ghosts  
  
LIONEL  
  
Lili, you left me too soon. Took your warmth and laughter. Left me with the ashes of memory and a hostile stranger I could not deal with. He has your eyes.  
  
I tried to make him in my image, couldn't live with the reminders of you. But he went his own way. Always.   
  
This child that Lex has found. At first, I thought her beneath notice. Then, a possible weakness. Then, a possible enemy.  
  
Now...  
  
She's young, but she has potential. A fitting mate for our son?  
  
She can teach him the things I cannot. Things that you would have taught him.  
  
She won't be bribed or bought. She struck me. Only one woman ever hit me before. You would like her. She has your fire and spirit.  
  
Perhaps they met too soon. But life is short, and must be lived. You taught me that.  
  
Maybe now he will understand what I am trying to achieve.   
  
I do not want him to become a carbon copy of me. I want him to be greater.   
  
A carbon copy. But subject carbon to great pressure - it becomes diamond. Hard, brilliant, facets hiding the heart. Unbreakable. Precious and rare.  
  
Power comes from many sources. Wealth. Fear. A desire for Vengeance.   
  
Love.  
  
He could have killed me back in the hospital. The child raised in my image would have done. But the boy who wishes to be a man in his woman's eyes? He stayed his hand. He needs me to be the villain to his hero. So I will play the part for him.  
  
We have come too far to reach across any chasms between us. You took all the love that I had in me with you, Lili. And duty and pride would not do. He will not reach back to me. But he will reach forward, and any love that he has in him, that part of you that never died, will be given to her.  
  
Our son, Lili. Alexander. Grown up and ready to take his place in the world. Gone beyond me. A man of courage and vision and compassion. You would be so proud of him.  
  
I am. 


	14. After This Knowledge, What Forgiveness?

14. After Such Knowledge, What Forgiveness?  
  
LEX  
  
House full of paramedics getting my father onto a stretcher - he's going back to Kane for observation. Maybe this time they'll keep him there. Refuse to go myself. Nothing band-aids and good night's sleep won't cure. Let the powder work it's own way out.  
  
Raise Gabe Sullivan - set up a meeting of the consortium. Raise my lawyers, get them to set things up their end.  
  
See the Kents off - Their car has wrapped itself round a gatepost. I still have Clark's truck. Enjoy giving the keys to Jonathan. Submit to being wept on a bit by Martha. Clark's appalled that his mother tried to shoot someone. I don't like to tell him that my father probably enjoyed it.  
  
And suddenly - they're all gone. Silence. Turn back and Chloe is still there. Small and exhausted, in the wreckage of her dress.  
  
She comes to me, buries her face in my chest.  
  
"I'm sorry." she whispers.  
  
"What?"  
  
"For not being here. For running away."  
  
"There was nothing you could have done. Did you have fun tonight?"  
  
Loaded question, and I wish I hadn't asked it. I can't take any more this evening. Clear gaze meets mine.  
  
"Clark and I resolved some issues." Fingers above my eye. "I wanted to be dancing with you...you're going to have another scar."  
  
Small shiver over my skin, because Chloe has a 'thing' about my scars. Wicked little smile, because she knows. Soft kiss, pulling at my upper lip.  
  
"You did it, then? Saved Smallville?"  
  
"I did. I think your father might have invested your college fund." Kiss her again. "You could be stuck in Smallville for a while."  
  
"What about you?"  
  
"I'm staying, too."   
  
"You talked your father round?"  
  
"Not quite. I saved his life," point to the mess in the library, "then Martha Kent tried to shoot him. He decided to retreat on the issue."  
  
She's smiling up at me, proud and happy. I'm a hero.  
  
She needs to know the worst about me before we go in any deeper. And coward that I am, I can't look her in the eyes to say this. Turn my back.  
  
"I tried to kill him in the hospital."  
  
Silence. She knows who I mean. I've pulled the world down around me.  
  
"No. You didn't. If you -had- tried, he would be dead. You thought about it." Two arms come round my waist. "You don't fail, remember?"  
  
That is the scariest thing. She knows I never lie to her. And she has faith in me.   
  
She deliberately stands in front of me, puts her arms up round my neck. Looks into my eyes, and I don't see any fear or disgust in her gaze.  
  
"Don't try pushing me away, Lex. I spent last week without you, and it sucked."  
  
I'm not strong enough to push her away. I need her to hold me, tell me that I'm not monster or a failure. Bury my face in her neck, smell her skin, feel the pulse jump beneath my lips.  
  
"Lex..." She pushes me back, hand to my cheek. Slightly scared, slightly defiant. "I love you."  
  
Luthors don't cry. I just have plaster dust in my eyes.  
  
"I love you." She repeats, softly. Smiles at me, a wide happy Chloe smile. I'm smiling back, regardless of how much it hurts my face, because she loves me. Bend my head to kiss her, and I need this, need her.  
  
"I love -you-." And she knows I never lie to her.  
  
Timeless moment, until we have to breathe, and I bury my face back in the curve of her shoulder, let her hold me tight.  
  
"Lex," she says, in quite a different voice, "why is there a horse in your garden?"  
  
"I'll tell you later, sweetheart."  
  
***  
  
~ Many thanx to Creed, David Gray and Remy Zero! cyber-cookie to whoever gets all the song refs!~  
  
~ next up - whatever I finish first. I have a whole world and timeline to play with! Wanna place a request? ~ 


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